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• Amendment to voting laws defeated in Senate meeting
• Amendment would have made all individual Senate votes public record
• Opposition: Amendment unecessary
• Amendment coincides with new MUSG website

An amendment aimed to increase accountability for Senate votes failed at last Thursday's Marquette Student Government Senate meeting. The amendment would have required a "roll call" format for all Senate votes, with each senator's vote tallied individually.

The final vote was 12 in favor and 11 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for amendments to Senate rules.

Under the current format, many senate votes are recorded collectively, with Senators calling either "yea" or "nay" as a group.

The amendment was proposed in correlation with the debut of MUSG's new Web site in an effort to make the voting record of each Senator available on the site.

College of Arts & Sciences Senator Giuseppe Pappalardo, a sophomore and co-author of the amendment, said the amendment would increase individual responsibility.

"This isn't really about accountability of the Senate as a whole, but more about the responsibility we each have individually," Pappalardo said.

Off-Campus Senator Abe Matthew, co-author of the amendment and a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, timed a roll call vote during the meeting to illustrate how quickly such a vote can be taken.

"Sixty-two seconds," Matthew said. "If we can't take an extra 62 seconds for the sake of accountability, I don't know if we should be here."

Senators opposed to the amendment noted that roll call votes can always be requested.

"It's our job to know the Senate rules," said Arts & Sciences Senator and sophomore John Kristan. "This seems kind of ridiculous."

Off-Campus Senator Drew Craig also supported the current Senate rules and questioned the timing of the amendment.

"If this is so important, where have all the movements for roll-call votes been before now?" asked Craig, a College of Arts & Sciences junior.

Pappalardo contended that the issue of individual accountability in MUSG has been a "constant complaint" of students.

"It's easy to say 'aye' with everybody, but it's harder when your name is next to it," he said.

Schroeder Hall Senator Billy Doerrer, a College of Arts & Sciences sophomore and co-author of the amendment, alluded to a specific moment when he should have been subject to accountability. Doerrer was alone opponent to a recommendation to enforce the campus smoking rules last fall.

"If people want to criticize me for my vote, they should be able to," Doerrer said. "Even if it's a losing battle, we should fight the fights we're supposed to fight."

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